I'm in favor of LGBT rights as much as the next godless hippy librul, but using tax payer money to fund a non-life sustaining operation is not a good use of funds in my view. With the huge homeless problem in The City, how could anyone in good conscious be in favor of this?

I'm all for public money going to keeping you from dying, or developing a disease that prevents you from supporting yourself. Hell, some national single-payer for basic care would be nice. But pay for your elective cosmetic surgery out of your own damned wages like everyone else.

"A lot of times, people roll their eyes and say, 'Only in San Francisco', and then 10 years later, they're doing the same thing"

That's entirely correct. And it's a big reason why the US is going down the tubes. Just because the rest of the country follows a lot of California/San Francisco ideas, don't mean any of those ideas area good.

Snapper Carr:What about a child born with a cleft palate whose parent's are too poor to afford the procedure?

I can't believe you think they are the same thing. You can't hide a cleft palate, it's on your face, it's an obvious deformity, your mouth can't operate correctly unless it's fixed, and it's not something you would ever want to reverse or regret doing.

The world has enough people in it and the last thing we need to do is subsidize mentally ill people mutilating themselves. If they want to do it they have that right, but we don't have to pretend that chopping your penis off makes you a woman. Fixing a cleft palate fixes the problem, mentally ill people that cut off parts of their body still have the same brain they started with. It's sad that they were born that way and may kill themselves, but it's hard to argue that it isn't natural selection at work.

I'm all for public money going to keeping you from dying, or developing a disease that prevents you from supporting yourself. Hell, some national single-payer for basic care would be nice. But pay for your elective cosmetic surgery out of your own damned wages like everyone else.

It's not, however, "elective cosmetic surgery", but a necessary medical procedure, according to the AMA and DSM. If San Francisco is going to cover necessary medical procedures for uninsured residents, then it should cover all such necessary medical procedures, and not second-guess doctors. None of this "oh, sure, your doctor claims you need surgery, but I'm an elected public official with a law degree, so therefore I know more about medicine" bullshiat like you're suggesting.

I think part of the problem is that there is a misunderstanding about the preconditions to get this surgery. It's not like plastic surgery where you go make an appointment with a doc and have an outpatient procedure or something along those lines. From my understanding you need a psych evaluation and you need to live like your target gender for a period of time. You also just cannot fly into SF claim residency and wait on your castration line... It's not like penises and vaginas are being given out like Halloween presents in the Castro....

LasersHurt:titwrench: LasersHurt: titwrench: LasersHurt: sage37: My fat ass and giant ears give me body dysmorphia, so I am suicidal and a drug abuser. I'm just convinced in my heart that I truly am handsome. Please pay for my surgery. It's the only way I can feel comfortable as a human.

This is not the same, and you know that. You are a bad person.

Why not? There are people that have a psychological need to change their appearance and suffer in their own skin. Whether it is a need to change gender or just a need to change your face or body to look a particular way if it is causing psychological damage why isn't it the same. What if someone was born with cleft lip or had a childhood disorder that left them with a minor deformity that caused them distress in their adult life? Are you trying to say they wouldn't deserve the same opportunity to fix it.

I am saying that his "I don't feel handsome enough plz halp" comment was ridiculous. This is not a comment on the actual merits of psychological issues related to appearance, particularly with "real" problems like a cleft pallet or club foot.

There may be an argument to be had about sexual identity or actual deformities - not his "handsomeness" idiocy.

Why not? Society rewards attractiveness. if being homely causes problems for a person psychologically how is there perception of themselves being uncomfortable in their body any less important than someone that feels they need to change their gender? The emotional and mental need is the same.

No, it's not the same. The pressures felt by someone who is "the wrong gender" is NOT AT ALL the same as the pressures one feels to be attractive. The two are not equal.

Tell that to girls suffering anorexia and bulimia. Their need to "fix" themselves is just as damaging psychologically as someone that feels the need to change gender. To person suffering the need is no less important as anyone else's. Just because you perceive a nose job as trivial compared to gender reassignment, to the person that is crippled by their feeling that their appearance is not who they are it isn't .

LasersHurt:titwrench: LasersHurt: sage37: My fat ass and giant ears give me body dysmorphia, so I am suicidal and a drug abuser. I'm just convinced in my heart that I truly am handsome. Please pay for my surgery. It's the only way I can feel comfortable as a human.

This is not the same, and you know that. You are a bad person.

Why not? There are people that have a psychological need to change their appearance and suffer in their own skin. Whether it is a need to change gender or just a need to change your face or body to look a particular way if it is causing psychological damage why isn't it the same. What if someone was born with cleft lip or had a childhood disorder that left them with a minor deformity that caused them distress in their adult life? Are you trying to say they wouldn't deserve the same opportunity to fix it.

I am saying that his "I don't feel handsome enough plz halp" comment was ridiculous. This is not a comment on the actual merits of psychological issues related to appearance, particularly with "real" problems like a cleft pallet or club foot.

There may be an argument to be had about sexual identity or actual deformities - not his "handsomeness" idiocy.

Why not? Society rewards attractiveness. if being homely causes problems for a person psychologically how is there perception of themselves being uncomfortable in their body any less important than someone that feels they need to change their gender? The emotional and mental need is the same.

LasersHurt:sage37: My fat ass and giant ears give me body dysmorphia, so I am suicidal and a drug abuser. I'm just convinced in my heart that I truly am handsome. Please pay for my surgery. It's the only way I can feel comfortable as a human.

This is not the same, and you know that. You are a bad person.

If it's not the same, prove that it isn't. You're asserting that a person who believes they need gender reassignment surgery is different than someone who wants a nose job, chin implants etc.

LasersHurt:sage37: My fat ass and giant ears give me body dysmorphia, so I am suicidal and a drug abuser. I'm just convinced in my heart that I truly am handsome. Please pay for my surgery. It's the only way I can feel comfortable as a human.

This is not the same, and you know that. You are a bad person.

Why not? There are people that have a psychological need to change their appearance and suffer in their own skin. Whether it is a need to change gender or just a need to change your face or body to look a particular way if it is causing psychological damage why isn't it the same. What if someone was born with cleft lip or had a childhood disorder that left them with a minor deformity that caused them distress in their adult life? Are you trying to say they wouldn't deserve the same opportunity to fix it.

evilmrsock: it's inhuman to write off mental abnormality as being incapable of preventing someone from supporting themselves just because you're not experiencing the same issues

How about I write it off as being incapable of preventing someone from supporting himself because it's incapable of preventing someone from supporting himself?

The only profession where thinking you're the wrong sex would prevent you from actually making a living is prostitution, and that's already illegal most places. Therefore, no, you don't get the same priority as people getting cancer, or losing limbs, or thinking they're Napoleon, etc. Not yours.

I'm not saying that the procedure should be illegal or anything, I'm saying if you want it save up and pay for it yourself.

My fat ass and giant ears give me body dysmorphia, so I am suicidal and a drug abuser. I'm just convinced in my heart that I truly am handsome. Please pay for my surgery. It's the only way I can feel comfortable as a human.

Britney Spear's Speculum:I'm in favor of LGBT rights as much as the next godless hippy librul, but using tax payer money to fund a non-life sustaining operation is not a good use of funds in my view. With the huge homeless problem in The City, how could anyone in good conscious be in favor of this?

Because by only being reactive to life threatening conditions, you're addressing them at their most expensive times, rather than spending a small amount of money earlier for preventative care. In this case, these operations may prevent severe depression, drug use, and suicide attempts, and obviate the need for expensive life-saving care and involuntary commitment to a psych ward.

I'm all for public money going to keeping you from dying, or developing a disease that prevents you from supporting yourself. Hell, some national single-payer for basic care would be nice. But pay for your elective cosmetic surgery out of your own damned wages like everyone else.

It's not, however, "elective cosmetic surgery", but a necessary medical procedure, according to the AMA and DSM. If San Francisco is going to cover necessary medical procedures for uninsured residents, then it should cover all such necessary medical procedures, and not second-guess doctors. None of this "oh, sure, your doctor claims you need surgery, but I'm an elected public official with a law degree, so therefore I know more about medicine" bullshiat like you're suggesting.